Biofuel production demonstration plant
The SDGs enacted at the United Nations Summit in September 2015 set out "GOAL13: Specific Measures for Climate Change." In addition, the Paris Agreement, which was agreed at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP) in December 2015 and is an international framework for climate change issues after 2020, will mainly focus on CO2 by 2030. Japan's goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26% from the 2013 level.
Under such circumstances, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), to which Japan is a member, has agreed at the 2016 General Assembly that CO2 emissions will not be increased after 2020, and is seen as a promising countermeasure. The introduction of biojet fuel is progressing in the United States, major EU countries, Canada and Australia, as well as Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand, China and India.
On the other hand, in Japan, the introduction of bio-jet fuel has been delayed for major countries in the world.
Regarding biofuels for automobiles, the target is about 18% * 1 by 2022 in the United States and 10% by 2020 in EU countries, and the goal is to use it as a breakdown of all automobile fuels * 2, but Japan. By 2022, the target for introducing biofuels to replace gasoline and diesel is only a few percent * 3 per year.
As the introduction of biofuels progresses around the world, Euglena announced on December 1, 2015, the start of a plan for the practical application of domestically produced biojet diesel fuel (hereinafter referred to as the "Domestic Biofuel Plan") in cooperation with Yokohama City, Chiyoda Corporation, ITOCHU Enex, Isuzu Motors, and ANA Holdings. On June 1, 2017, construction of Japan's first demonstration plant for biojet and diesel fuel began, and construction was completed on October 31, 2018.
It will start full-scale operation in the spring of 2019 and manufactures "SUSTEO" using used cooking oil and microalgae Euglena (Japanese name: Astragalus) as raw materials.
place | Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture |
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Site area | 7,787.6㎡ |
Manufacturing capacity | Nissan 5 barrels |
Production volume | Annual production 125KL (quantity varies depending on test implementation status and maintenance occurrence status, etc.) |
Manufactured item | Bio-jet fuel, next-generation bio-diesel fuel, bio-naphtha, etc. |
Manufacturing technology | Biofuels ISOCONVERSION Process (commonly known as BIC process) * Licensed by Chevron Lummus Global / ARA |
Total investment | Approximately 5.8 billion yen (including subsidies from Kanagawa Prefecture and Yokohama City) |
The technology introduced at the demonstration plant for producing biofuel has acquired the new standard ASTM D7566, which is an international standard certification. Acquiring this new standard certification means that bio-jet fuel produced at Euglena’s demonstration plant for producing biofuel has been internationally approved for use as a fuel on commercial aircrafts.
In 2020, we will start supplying next-generation biodiesel fuel, and in 2021, we will realize the first flight with biojet fuel. We will contribute to the SDGs "GOAL13: Specific Measures for Climate Change".
"SUSTEO" is a fuel that replaces fossil fuels and is used to realize a sustainable society. We started supplying next-generation biodiesel fuel in 2020 and biojet fuel in 2021, and their use is expanding in vehicles, ships, and aircraft.
With the completion of the demonstration plant, we declared "GREEN OIL JAPAN" aiming to "make Japan an advanced biofuel country".
What exactly is biofuel? Explaining all about the biofuel that Euglena Co., Ltd. is working so hard on.